Kath Evans is a registered general and children’s nurse, her career has included clinical, educational, managerial, service improvement, commissioning and professional leadership roles and has worked nationally as Experience of Care Lead for Maternity, Infants, Children and Young People at NHS England where she was committed to ensuring the voices of children, young people, families/carers and maternity service users were heard in their care and in the design, delivery and commissioning of services, prior to that she was at the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement working on system wide Emergency and Urgent Care pathways.
"Hello my name is Kath Evans, director of children’s nursing at Barts Health and a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline committee".
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.
Kath Says: "As a child I was an enthusiastic reader anything from Malory Towers, Secret Seven, Famous Five, Little women, I always had my nose in a book, but if I needed to choose a childhood book to read on a desert Island it would be Anne of Green Gables. Anne (with an e) was a ‘looked after child’ adopted after being exploited by kind (yet firm) Marilla and Mathew. The book was set in Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, Canada and as I reflect on the hours spent reading this fabulous story it brings me such joy"!
SWITCH how to change things, when change is hard, by brothers Chip and Dan Heath
We all know that change is hard. It's unsettling, it's time-consuming, and all too often we give up at the first sign of a setback. But why do we insist on seeing the obstacles rather than the goal? This is the question that bestselling authors Chip and Dan Heath tackle in their compelling and insightful book. They argue that we need only understand how our minds function in order to unlock shortcuts to switches in behaviour.
Kath says: "In more recent years my reading tends to be more focused on work, but the power of a story still captivates me. SWITCH is full of story-telling with purpose, sharing examples from the work of the Institute of Health Care Improvement. I’d take the time to re-read and plot change programmes"!
What works in reducing health inequalities in child health by Helen Roberts
This important report looks at macro public policy interventions, community interventions, and individual level interventions in a variety of settings, and for a range of populations: infancy, early years, childhood and adolescence, and those with particular needs including looked after children. It considers 'what works' in practice.
Kath says: "Addressing health inequalities is a challenge I’m keen to give more thinking to, so perhaps this time would allow me to do that, so I’d take this book and come up with a plan"!
Health is made at home, hospitals are for repairs, building a health and health creating society by Nigel Crisp
Health is made at home challenges us to set aside our normal assumptions and take off our NHS spectacles to see the world differently and take control of our health. And it calls for a new partnership between the NHS, government and the general public to build a healthy and health creating society.
Kath says: "Work to keep care out of hospital is another passion of mine, the disruption a hospital stay can cause to family life is significant, so I’d pack up my copy of this. Again having the time to reflect, ponder and challenge old fashioned, Victorian models of care is something I’d value".
Embedding Young People’s Participation in Health Services, New approaches edited by Louca-Mai Brady
This book explores how young people’s participation can be inclusively and sustainably embedded into health services. Using rich case studies of participation in practice, Brady presents a new evidence-based framework to support policymakers and practitioners to embed young people’s participation more effectively in healthcare practice.
Kath says: "I had the privilege of co-authoring a chapter with colleagues, but to date I’ve dipped into sections of the book rather than reading from cover to cover"!
Hal Koerner’s Field guide to ultra-running
A comprehensive handbook to running 30 to 100 miles and beyond, authored by one of the most experienced and recognized athletes in the sport.
Kath says: "I’m a slow runner, which is why I love ultras (anything over 26.2 miles), but I’m always looking for hints and tips to build mental and physical stamina and I suspect I’d need this on a desert island"!